WRITER: Chad Lawhorn

Local legislator introduces bill to require ministers, other religious leaders to report suspicions of child abuse

Story updated at 2:16 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023: A Douglas County legislator has filed a bill that would require priests and other ministers to report any suspected child abuse to state authorities. Sen Tom Holland, D-Baldwin City, filed Senate Bill 87 this week that would add “duly ordained ministers” to the list of professionals who are mandated reporters of child abuse in the state. Holland has ...

Home sales in Lawrence fall by 13% in 2022, but home prices jump by 10% nonetheless

Homebuyers, for the most part, are doing their share to battle rising Lawrence home prices. For the third time in four years, home sales in Lawrence have fallen. It still wasn’t enough, though. The median selling price of Lawrence homes posted a double-digit percentage increase in 2022. Lawrence home sales fell 13% to a total of 1,121 homes in 2022, according to the year-end report from the Lawrence Board ...

KU is solidly in top 100 nationally for research and development dollars, but it's not keeping up in some key areas

They make airplanes — not rockets — in Wichita, but there’s a new set of numbers out that might cause you to think differently. After all, something has powered Wichita State University’s engineering school into the stratosphere. Wichita State finished fiscal year 2021 as a top 20 university in the entire country for engineering research and development funding. Others included in that top 20 group ...

KU lauds governor's recommended budget, which would provide 5% wage increases and boost financial aid funding

Most University of Kansas employees are in line for a 5% wage increase — for the second year in a row — if the Legislature approves Gov. Laura Kelly’s recommended budget for the upcoming budget year. That proposed wage increase was one of several pieces of good news that university leaders were touting as part of a budget recommendation that would add nearly $108 million of new investments to the ...

From the golf course to the cemetery, Parks and Rec fees set to increase Feb. 1; a look at some of the bigger fee changes

Inflation soon will find your golf game — even if you are able to cut down on your three-putts. The price of golf at the city-run Eagle Bend Golf Course will increase by about 20% next month, and that is just the beginning for all types of fee increases for Parks and Recreation activities in the city. Swimming, youth baseball, adult kickball and, yes, even cemetery burials are set to increase on Feb. 1, as ...

Lawrence leaders take another step toward protections for tenants who use housing vouchers, other government assistance

City commissioners Tuesday took another step to make Lawrence the first city in the state to prohibit landlords from refusing to rent to tenants who receive government assistance, such as Section 8 housing vouchers. After about two hours of divided public comment, city commissioners expressed support for an ordinance that would prohibit landlords from discriminating against potential tenants on the basis of ...